Same Story, Same Ending: BYU’s Weaknesses Exposed in NCAA Tournament Exit
Mar 19, 2026, 9:07 PM
PORTLAND, Oregon – All those weaknesses BYU exhibited far too often during its turbulent season ultimately turned hope and promise into despair and disappointment.
Once again, a porous defense was the culprit in the most important game of the season. Adding to it, the Cougars could not rebound–which coach Kevin Young had said was a strength–well enough to extend the season one more game.
The result, predictably, was a sorry performance that led to an early exit in the NCAA tournament. Unable to limit the Texas offense and keep the Longhorns off the glass, the one-and-done sixth-seeded Cougars lost 79-71 to the 11-seed on Thursday in the Moda Center.
RELATED: AJ Dybantsa joined ESPN’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt
“He’s a smart player. Very poised kid for his age.”@BYUMBB‘s Kevin Young on star freshman AJ Dybantsa pic.twitter.com/hVTlg6NyXL
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026
The narrative that Young pushed during the final week of the regular season and into the Big 12 tournament turned out to be fraudulent.
One win against watered-down Texas Tech, which was missing its best player, combined with wins over a bad team (Kansas State) and another average one (West Virginia), was nothing special, no matter how much the second-year coach tried to push that BYU was playing its best at the right time.
It just wasn’t true. At least not against Texas, which was on a three-game losing streak before beating North Carolina State on a last-second shot Tuesday in the tournament play-in game some 2,400 miles away in Dayton, Ohio.
With 7-foot Matas Vokietaitis dominating at the front, Texas was in control much of the game. BYU managed to grab a one-point lead midway through the first half, but it quickly evaporated on the next Texas possession.
By halftime, the Lithuanian already posted a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds). Particularly galling for BYU, Vokietaitis and his seven offensive rebounds helped Texas score 12 points on second chances.
A few spurts in the second half brought the partisan BYU crowd to its feet. But even then, despite the frenzied rallies, the Cougars allowed Jordan Pope to nail an uncontested three-point shot from the corner to give Texas a seven-point lead with 1:21 left in the game.
Though not unexpected, the loss signaled the culmination of AJ Dbyantsa’s brief stay in Provo. It lasted a mere 34 games, but his legacy will remain unforgettable.
AJ DYBANTSA NASTY DUNK 🤢pic.twitter.com/y2MTJ9nYIG
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) March 20, 2026
Players of his caliber rarely have played before the home crowd in the Marriott Center. Even down to the end, he was a one-man highlight show.
Truth is, Dybantsa’s college career was always going to end with a downer. Young assembled a roster that obviously was not near good enough to make the program’s first appearance in the Final Four.
The well-documented injuries most definitely reduced BYU’s talent, but it’s easy to argue that none of the missing players would have made a difference against Texas. It doesn’t matter at this point, anyway.
Another truth is that Dybantsa needed help on the front line. Relying on senior Keba Keita and a mishmash of others worked against some competition but wasn’t going to fly in the NCAA tournament.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Dybantsa reiterated that he chose BYU to develop his game for the NBA rather than solely for the exorbitant amount of money. Using the development theme, his time at BYU was a smashing success. Over and over, against the best competition the college game has to offer, he proved worthy of being the first pick in June’s NBA draft.
Using the current cash-grab climate in college basketball as the standard, BYU got its money’s worth out of the star player. Besides the undeniable energy his presence brought, Dybantsa delivered unprecedented goodwill and positive publicity to the program and the university.
Outside of the scoreboard, which he can’t individually control, he leaves a winner. Imperfect as he was at times, Dybantsa gave BYU all he had.
